A primary goal of minimally invasive surgical procedures is to minimize the adverse effects of the procedure on the patient. This reduces post-surgical trauma and pain and minimizes recovery time. Some minimally invasive procedures require the surgeon to create one or more small incisions through which various surgical cameras must be passed, thereby allowing the surgeon to visualize the tissue of the patient under investigation.
These surgical cameras typically have the capability to magnify or zoom in upon the tissue being observed, thereby allowing for a larger image of the tissue having greater detail. However, traditional surgical cameras usually require the surgeon or his or her assistant to manually adjust the zoom or magnification level of the camera whenever the surgeon desires to see the tissue in less or greater detail. As a result, these traditional surgical camera systems are more difficult to operate than necessary, and require the surgeon to direct his attention away from his or her examination of the tissue whenever he or she needs to adjust the magnification level of the camera.